She pressed a hand to her belly as he took her plate. His brows lifted. “Everything all right?”
“I can’t believe I ate all that.”
“Your body needs the energy. And like I said, your metabolism burns at a much higher rate now. It will be almost impossible to gain weight as a rook or vampire.”
She shook her head. “Kind of a dream come true for someone who likes sweets as much as I do. Speaking of, where’s that chocolate cake I made?”
“Coming right up.” He fixed her a large slice with whipped cream.
She made a sound of pleasure after the first bite. “I hope it’s not bad manners to think your own food is so delicious, but seriously, that’s what chocolate cake should taste like.”
He cut a piece for himself and joined her at the table. “You’re very talented with sweets.”
She shrugged. “You know what they say, if you find something you enjoy doing, it’s not really work. I love creating all those wonderful things. Not to make it sound all lofty and important, but it kind of feels like art to me.”
“I’d agree. What you do with sugar and eggs and chocolate? Definitely worthy of being admired.”
“Actually, what I like best about it is making people happy. My mom was a baker. She made cakes, never had a shop, just did it out of our house. Until she got sick.”
“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Cancer.” She told him about her dad and how’d he left and remarried, and how she’d told him off at the wedding.
Stanhill scowled. “Sounds like the right bastard deserved it. Good for you.”
“It wasn’t my finest hour, but he did sort of deserve it. He really let us down.” She poked at the cake with her fork. “Did you have family that you had to leave behind when Hugh made you a rook?”
“My family was all in service at different households. My mum and dad were taken by the plague. My older sister was in France. She was a ladies’ maid and traveling with the family she served.” He stared at his plate. “I saw her once after I was turned. Tried to explain what happened, but she didn’t want anything to do with me.”
He smiled weakly. “That was centuries ago. Water under the bridge, as it were.”
“Is it hard?”
“What’s that, love?”
“Outliving your friends?”
He nodded, then stopped. “It was at first. But since we’ve been here, not so much. That’s why there are so many supernatural folk here. Like kind and all that. Most of ’em tend to have much longer lifespans than your average human. Makes things easier.”
“That’s good.”
“It is.”
She pushed her plate away. “I’m going out to the garden. Enjoy the last bit of sun while I can. Do you have any idea where Captain is? I thought I might take him out there with me.”
“Last I saw he was headed into the living room. I put his new cat bed in there.”
She stared at Stanhill. “You bought him a cat bed?”
“Three, actually. There’s one in the library and one in Hugh’s sitting room.”
She laughed. “I’m glad you like him so much. Makes me feel good.”
“He’s a sweet creature.”
With a smile, she wandered into the living room and found Captain curled up in his new bed, which looked to be burgundy velvet with gold trim. “Fit for a prince,” she muttered.
She scooped him up and sniffed his toasty head, all warm from sleep. “Let’s go get some fresh air, Cappy.”
Sunlight and gentle breezes spilled through the garden. Flowers were in fragrant bloom, and the soft buzz of insects sounded like a chorus. To her amped-up senses, it was a wonderland. She put Captain down to roam. He immediately began stalking something in the tall, feathery grasses that bordered a small pond in the back.
She sat on the steps that led down to a serpentine section of pavers. Her last glimpse of the sun. Sure, she’d see it through the windows as long as she was safely tucked in the shadows, but this was the last time she’d feel it on her face. The last time she’d sit beneath its rays and soak up its warmth.
A price to pay, but not such a large one that it changed her mind. Life with Hugh offered so much more.
Orange and coral streaked the sky, and little by little the light disappeared. Captain had settled into a patch of flowers, wide awake as he watched a bug crawl through the dirt. The door opened behind her.
She didn’t have to look to know it was Hugh. She turned and smiled. “I knew it was you without even looking. I realize the odds were low that it was anyone else, but it was like…I could sense you.”